Jabberwock
by BlueLucied
Summary: Enemies aren't something that Steven Quartz Universe is familiar with. So when the biggest one he's faced so far ends up back in Beach City, what can he do to keep the peace and make a friend? Can his belief in the power of forgiveness outshine the enmity of an ancient war? (Jasper Redemption!)
1. Beware

_"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!_

_The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!"_

Jabberwocky, L. Carrol 

* * *

It was a thankfully quiet night in Beach City. The streets and boardwalk were empty, the beach itself just a smooth ribbon of white next to the sea, free of the jagged chunks of debris that had littered it for weeks. Steven was the only soul out and awake, seated at the edge of the water in his pajamas, ukulele in hand. Ever since he had found Peridot's escape pod he had trouble sleeping, his mind too full about where the rogue gems had gone.

Peridot herself loomed like a sort of bogeyman, the pod had come down close enough to Beach City that she could be anywhere, waiting to do… Something, he guessed. And it just wasn't her. Everytime he closed his eyes Malachite would rise up out of his imagination, screaming and roaring and clawing out of the water and up the sand, both sets of eyes locked on him, mouth splitting as the two gems fought for control of the massive form.

Even just thinking about Malachite was enough to send a shiver down his spine. He had never seen gems fused with so much malice. He wasn't even sure how it was possible that they had stayed together. Amethyst and Pearl would just fall apart when they didn't get along or just were surprised by something. Malachite's double face was the stuff of nightmares, Jasper's desperation to escape and Lapis's determination to stop her from leaving. That was the frightening part. Why would Lapis want to stay like that after all she had been through? Steven could have convinced the Gems to let her stay with them in the Temple, he was sure of it.

He furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to think about why Lapis would do what she did, fingers running over the strings in a gentle strum. Yeah, Garnet could be way scary when she was mad, and facing down all three of the Gems could give anyone the willies, but Jasper had been way scarier. And bigger. Although most of that was the hair. His fingers played over the strings again, plucking out a tune. Was Homeworld really that scary, if they had Gems like Jasper to fight for them? If they had ships that weren't even scratched by four light cannons? Lapis had said that they couldn't fight Homeworld, but he couldn't believe that.

"Augh! Why does this have to be so complicated!?" Steven threw his hands up in frustration and let himself fall back onto the sand with a groan.

In the distance, there was a sound that could only just be heard over the waves hitting the sand. A sort of disturbance, but he ignored it. There were always fish jumping around in the water, sometimes even sharks! He scrambled back to his feet at the thought, the still too-recent memory of being afraid of a shark jumping out of the water to gobble him up running through his head.

But what was heading towards him out of the water was more terrifying than any shark. 

* * *

Freedom was bitter sweet. Lapis Lazuli had left her chained to a massive outcropping of rock, deep in some dark ocean trench. Getting herself loose had been no easy task, and one of the translucent chains was still around her wrist, trailing behind her on the abyssal plain as she trudged along, following the massive furrows that Malachite had left. Jasper was infuriated. Coming to Earth should have been easy. Wipe out whatever was left of Rose Quartz's rebels. Re-activate the Kindergarten and repair the Homeworld warp. It would have been glorious, to watch the miserable, backwater mud-ball that had been the start of the worst Gem Civil War in recent history wither down into nothing but a barren rock.

Hands clenched as she had to muscle her way through the underwater pressure. Instead of her easy victory, she had been beaten, tricked, and left to rot by some coward brat with a chip on her shoulder. Jasper had seen the full extent of Lapis's grudge when they had fused but it was so inconsequential in the grand scheme of things that it was laughable. Lapis was lucky she was left on Earth. Gems like her weren't tolerated by the Diamond Authority. You fell in line, you did your job. If you didn't, there were _consequences_.

It was the thought of completing her mission that got Jasper through the first stretch of her walk as she followed the line gouged in the ocean floor. Everything was planned out. Find Peridot. Beat the traitors into a fine, crystalline powder and capture Rose Quartz. Start the Kindergarten, repair the Homeworld Warp, and go home. Maybe find Lapis Lazuli before leaving and sticking her back into some mundane object. She kept running the list through her head while struggling through the darkness. It would be easy. She could still win.

As the days dragged on (at least so far as she could tell, there wasn't any way to tell time in this subterranean hell she had found herself in, she couldn't even see the stars, let alone any light) it became more and more taxing to keep her form underneath the massive pressure she had to travel through. A voice in the back of Jasper's head started whispering to her that this was Lapis's plan all along, to leave her where she couldn't escape until the force of this forsaken planet's ocean trapped her inside her gem. That thought alone was enough to keep her going forwards.

Until she hit the slope. Literally. It had loomed out of the darkness, and Jasper had been so intent on her thoughts of vengeance and victory she had only just avoided tripping forwards and smacking her face into it. Wouldn't that be an embarrassing way to go. She had to use her hands to follow the sharply inclined surface, hoping that there was a way around, but found after so much useless floundering that there was only one way to go. Up. The slope was sharp enough that she couldn't actually walk up it, instead having to jab her hands one-at-a-time into the stoney incline and pull herself up, growling with each motion. As if dealing with the pressure wasn't enough, now she had to haul herself upwards, and for once she was cursing her massive frame.

There was one good side to the climbing. As she continued upwards, the pressure lessened just the slightest bit every hundred or so arm-lengths. Jasper's world shrunk to the surface inches in front of her face as she climbed, intent on her task. She couldn't even see what she was climbing in the darkness, having to feel with a hand before punching herself a hand-hold. Everything became so mechanical, the repetitive motions of reach-feel-punch-pull, that the first time something passed behind her, she didn't register it. She felt it the second time, and it was startling enough that Jasper almost lost her already precarious grip on the slope, whipping the chain still attached to her wrist into the nothingness behind her, hanging on to the cliff with one hand.

"IS THAT YOU BRAT? COME OUT AND FIGHT ME FACE TO FACE!" Jasper's scream was swallowed up by the water, and she received no response except the silence which had been following her since the start of her trek. She hung there, in the stillness, staring out into the watery void, wishing for something to fight, something to tear apart so that she could break the deathly calm that had become her world. With another roar she turned back to the task at hand, her next punch leaving a crater in the cliff face instead of a useable hole. The rock around the crater started to crumble, and Jasper had to scrabble for another hold. She started punching her fingers straight into the rock for purchase as she hauled herself up, but could still feel the ground crumbling in her grip, beneath her feet, and for one terrifying moment when she reached out her hand swiped through emptiness-

And then her palm reconnected with the surface she couldn't see, and after a desperate scramble she was up over the edge that she'd reached without knowing. Jasper had to crawl forwards on all fours as the slope continued to crumble beneath her, the disintegrating rock and sediments swirling in the water, clouding her already obscured vision. She didn't know how long she crawled until the water finally cleared and the ground became solid again, but she thought she noticed the pressure easing as she dragged herself forwards. Even getting back up to her feet was almost too much but she still managed, one foot dragging after the other.

Her world had once again become nothing more than moving forwards, one step at a time, through the darkness that surrounded her and pressed in on all sides. The pressure wasn't as crushing as it had been when she first started, but it was still draining for Jasper to keep herself together and to keep moving forwards. Again the thought snuck in that this was all part of Lapis Lazuli's plan. She had to get away from the water, away from where Lapis could continue to stalk her. She just had to be watching and waiting for Jasper to fail, so she could sweep in and break her gem.

In all her thousands of years of existence, nothing had felt so close to futility as this. Jasper had traveled far greater distances in her line of work. Lightyears of space and countless planets were under her belt. This small section of Earth's ocean should have been a baby step to her. But it wasn't. She had even had the misfortune of floating in outer space a few times, while dislodging things from a ship's hull or taking the brunt of enemy fire. But even the blackness of space was not like this. In space, there was at least starlight. Space didn't press in on you from all angles. Space didn't have gravity to drag you down, using your own mass against you. In space, she could see her enemies coming.

Not here. As she traveled, Jasper felt what she hoped were native organisms swim past her in the dark, and all she could do was flinch rather than lash out. But her mind kept going back to thinking that Lapis was trailing her, torturing her, just waiting for Jasper to make one mistake and leave herself open. All thoughts of vengeance on the Crystal Gems was out of her mind. She just wanted to get out and away. She couldn't stop and fight, there'd be no chance of her winning if it came to blows between her and Lapis. All her energy had to go towards staying mobile and keeping her body intact.

The first time she could actually see something other than absolute darkness, Jasper hadn't believed it. It took a few light cycles until she realized that she could actually see the ground beneath her feet and the creatures that would keep sliding past her in the water. The light was encouraging, it had to mean she was getting closer to the surface, and now she could actually keep track of the days while trudging over the ocean floor. If she could see, if the water was shallow enough for the sunlight ri reach her, then that meant she was almost out of this forsaken water, almost away from Lapis Lazuli, almost _free_.

It was dark when she finally broke the surface, dragging herself and the chain still trailing behind her up the surf and on to the shore. She was so relieved, no more pressure to fight against, an even ground to fight if Lapis tried to come after her again, that Jasper didn't pay any attention to where she was. Instead she was busy digging her fingers into the blessedly dry sand and laughing, scooping up a handful and turning around to fling it into the sea. "COME GET ME NOW, LAPIS LAZULI! I'LL SHOW YOU HOW A REAL GEM WARRIOR FIGHTS!" 

* * *

Steven could only watch, fists clenched tight around his ukulele as he watched Jasper pull herself out of the water, then turn right around and start yelling at… Nothing? He peeked out from behind the rock he'd taken cover behind to watch the homeworld Gem as she paced back and forth at the water's edge, not actually letting the waves touch her as she walked and screamed. "I'M NOT GOING TO FALL FOR YOUR TRICKS THIS TIME, YOU COWARD!" He winced at the yell, turning to look down the beach, towards the cliff that obscured the bulk of the temple, hoping that one of the Gems would hear.

A tense minute passed, with Jasper still pacing on the sand, back and forth, growling and glaring at the sea. Steven had to bite back a groan, wedged in his hiding spot that was not comfortable at all. Maybe if he just hid and waited, Jasper would go away, then he could run back and get Garnet and Pearl and Amethyst, then the four of them could go catch Jasper together. Yeah. That was the best idea.

Until something started tickling his foot. At first he tried to bite back the laugh and move his foot away from whatever was poking him. Then the thing pinched. With a yelp, Steven launched out of his spot and onto the sand, landing on his ukulele with a TWANG right out the open. Jasper froze and turned in place, her yellow eyes zeroing in on Steven. "You!" She turned her head, looking between him and the water like she couldn't decide which was more dangerous before focusing on him.

"This is all your fault! You weren't even supposed to still be around!" She took a step towards him, and Steven scrambled up to his feet, holding his instrument in front of him like a weapon. "You were supposed to be gone and all I had to do was help Peridot activate the Kindergarten!" Jasper took another step towards him, fists clenched. "Come on! Fight me! What are you waiting for!? You didn't hold back during the war, what's stopping you now?"

"I don't want to fight you!" He was lucky that he didn't stutter. All the rest of him was shaking like a leaf. Steven took a breath and brandished his improvised weapon at the Gem looming over him. "You and Peridot lost! Just go away!" Another breath.

She laughed, a laugh that was enough to make him shiver again. "I don't know about her, but I don't lose! I can't lose! Not to you! Not again!" Jasper hunched down, then launched herself at him, kicking up a cloud of sand behind her, her left hand pulled back in a fist, ready to punch. Everything slowed down as she flew at him, eyes bright and angry and wild.

Steven gasped and did the only thing he could think to do. He swung his ukulele forwards with a yell right at Jasper's face, just like when he and Connie had to fight the robot when all they had wanted to do was see a movie. The impact sent a shock up his arms, and there was another loud TWANG followed by the sound of shattering wood. He was all twisted up, eyes screwed closed, both hands outstretched, still clutching the neck of the instrument.

When nothing else happened, it took all the courage he could muster to crack open one eye. Jasper was gone. And his ukulele… Was shattered, and all he was left holding was the neck, the rest of it in splinters. Steven slowly relaxed the smallest bit, looking around, finding himself alone, besides his ruined instrument and the sound of the waves hitting the shore. He kept what was left in the ukulele up though, in a guard, as he scanned the beach. It could just be a trick.

Then he looked down and gasped. There was Jasper's gem, twinkling with reflected starlight. Steven dropped his instrument and frantically scooped her gem up in both hands. "Oh no! I'm sorry I didn't mean to do that! I just wanted you to stop!" This was Pearl, all over again. No, not like Pearl, because Jasper was supposed to be an enemy. This should just be payback for what she had done to Garnet, right? But then why did he feel like he was going to be sick?

"Oh no oh no!" He managed to get to his feet, looking towards the temple, heart in his throat and Jasper's gem heavy in his hands. What could he do now? 

* * *

**AN:** Woof, what a whopper. Many thanks for Fabulfuz for helping hammer the start of this beast down! I really like Jasper as a character, and I know I'm not the only one who wants to see her get a redemption and become the Grumpy tiger mom of the group. This is dedicated to all the Jasper fans out there! Don't worry, Lapis and Peridot will show up at some point, but right now this is mostly Jasper-centric!


	2. By the Tail

_Tyger Tyger, burning bright, _

_In the forests of the night; _

_What immortal hand or eye, _

_Could frame thy fearful symmetry?_

The Tyger, W. Blake 

* * *

All Steven could hear was his heartbeat in his ears. Taking out Jasper with one hit had not been on his list of things to do tonight. He looked down at the Gem in his hands, then back up to the Temple at the far end of the beach. He wanted to tell Garnet and the others, they would be so proud of him! But all he could think about was Garnet's face as she was wound up, ready to punch Peridot's escape pod. Of how the mirror that Lapis had been trapped in screamed when he wanted to show the Gems, when they wanted to take the mirror away from him. Even Centipeedle, scared and hissing and chained to a rock when Steven had tried to prove he could tame the creature.

The thought of chains made him think of Malachite and look back to the water. His heart sank again as he caught sight of the cold blue manacle that had been around one of Jasper's wrists when she came up out of the surf. Lapis had dragged Malachite under with water-formed chains, but those had been huge. This one was Jasper-sized. He looked down at the orange gem again. "Were… You alone down there? Did Lapis tie you up? Why would she do that after knowing what it was like?"

Jasper's gem offered no response, and Steven could only let out a groan as he tried to figure out a plan. If he told the Gems, they would take Jasper and… do what? Bubble her? Attach her to some object like Lapis and her mirror? Both were equally chilling thoughts. Would they do something worse? It wouldn't be fair. He hadn't wanted to bubble Centipeedle. And Jasper hadn't done anything worse than Peridot or Lapis had done.

His problem was so engrossing that when the shadow loomed over him, Steven didn't notice until there was a snuffing nose right up in his hair. He flailed and jumped in surprise, landing with his butt in the sand again, right in front of a familiar pink form. "Lion! Don't do that!" Steven climbed up to his feet, and scooped Jasper's gem out of the sand where he had dropped her, then stepped in to give Lion's mane a hug. "Man am I happy to see you!"

There was a responding growl, and then a nose against the hand holding Jasper's gem. "Oh yeah! Look! Uh… What do you think?" Steven held his hand out to the big cat so that Lion could get a better look. "I mean, I didn't want to hurt her or anything, but I'm afraid that Garnet and Pearl and Amethyst might not think the same way. She did attack us but…" He trailed off and let out a thoughtful hum, watching for the cat's reaction.

Lion just looked down at him, eyes narrowed in that way he usually did, before he brought up one paw and put it on Steven's hand, making the little boy go starry-eyed. "You think so too, huh?" He took a deep breath and nodded, more for his own nerves than anything. "I'll tell the Gems, and convince them not to hurt her. And we'll find some way to convince Jasper not to hurt us." There was another 'roawrf' of a response from Lion. "Right. Whatever you say." He smiled widely up at Lion. "This'll be easy!"

"Steven! Are you out here?"

All of his bravado went out the window at Pearl yelling his name. "Oh geez! Lion, c'mere!" Steven scrambled and dove into Lion's mane half-way after taking a deep breath, legs sticking out of one side as he flailed in Lion's weird bubble dimension. There was the cooler, half full of sodas and juice boxes. It would work for now. He dropped Jasper's gem into the plastic container, silently apologizing to Jasper for having to abandon her so suddenly. With a push he was out of Lion's mane, gulping down a breath of sea air and looking around frantically. The chains! If Pearl saw those, she'd know something was up.

It was another scramble, dragging the heavy chain out of the sand and stowing it in Lion's mane. Steven had just managed to lift the last link into the portal when Pearl reached the pair.

"Steven! It's way past your bedtime. What are you doing out here? With Lion?" Her eyes narrowed slightly as she cause sight of the pink feline. She still didn't trust the beast and whatever it's connection to Rose Quartz was supposed to be.

"Oh hey Pearl! I was, uh, just out taking Lion for a walk! Yeah! He wasn't able to sleep." Steven let out a nervous chuckle, fingers playing with the front of his pajamas and trying to avoid meeting Pearl's eyes.

Pearl studied him for a moment, then let out a sigh. Her tone didn't inspire confidence but didn't seem intent on pressing the issue. "Well, it's still much too late for you to be out here alone. And what did you do to your instrument?" She leaned over elegantly to pick up the remains of his ukulele with a questioning look on her face.

"Oh! There was a… A crab! Yeah! I was sitting and playing and got attacked by an angry crab!" Steven mimed pincers with his fingers, doing a little back and forth in the sand in front of Lion. As if on cue, there was a scuttling from the rock where he had hidden from Jasper earlier, and a small blue crab skittered out across the sand, heading towards the water. "See! Crab! Uwaaah!" He threw his hands up and ran around behind Lion, peering out both at Pearl and the retreating crustacean.

"...Right. Well I suppose it was a good thing Lion was here to keep you safe from such a... menacing creature." Pearl watched the crab in question disappear into the water. "But I doubt you had to destroy your instrument in the process."

Steven put on his best pout. "It pinched me! I was surprised is all." He made his way back around Lion and over to Pearl, holding out his hand to the taller Gem, who sighed and took it, turning back towards the temple.

"Really, Steven, it's not safe for you to be out here alone. Even with Lion." Pearl had stowed what was left of his Ukulele under her free arm as they walked, taking short steps to make sure that she didn't outstep her small charge. "You don't know what could happen."

"You mean like with Peridot's escape pod?" Steven looked up at her questioningly as they walked across the beach, Lion just a few steps behind them, padding over the sand.

At his question, Pearl sighed and stopped, squatting down so that she was level with Steven, as she often did, putting a hand on his shoulder. "That could have gone so much worse. Steven. You could have been really hurt if Garnet hadn't realized you were inside of the pod."

"You mean if Jenny didn't stop her?"

The question seemed to shock Pearl, who looked at him with almost a hurt expression. "Steven! Garnet would never want to hurt you, you should know that!"

"But she was ready to hurt Peridot! What if she had been hurt in the crash? Would you three still have gone after her like that?" Steven sniffed loudly, gripping at the bottom of his shirt with both hands, looking down then back up at Pearl.

"Of course not! If she had been really hurt, we wouldn't have had to fight her at all, and just been able to-" She trailed off, looking off to the side worriedly.

"Able to what?" Steven frowned deeply up at the Gem.

Pearl could only frown in response, still looking to the side, not meeting his eyes. "It's not something you need to worry about." She looks back at him, a calculating look on her face. "Is this why you were out here? Worrying about Peridot?"

He hadn't expected her to flip the question back on him, and Steven's gaze went back down to avoid her questioning look, shuffling bare toes in the sand.

"Oh Steven. Come on, let's get you back into bed." Her tone was soft as she picked him up effortlessly, holding the little boy close as she headed back towards the temple. "You don't need to worry about Peridot. Whenever we find her, or if she shows up, then we'll take care of it." She closed her eyes as she spoke, one hand patting Steven's curly hair in reassurance.

Steven almost argued against being carried, but right now, being able to cling to Pearl was reassuring, in a way. The rest of the walk back to the Temple was quiet, besides the sound of the beach at night and Lion walking behind them. In contrast, Steven's mind was a jumble of thoughts. Even when Pearl helped him up the stairs and into bed, he'd kept a sullen sort of silence. It wasn't until she had retreated back to her room, and the inside of the house was as silent as it could be, that he went back over to Lion to fish Jasper's gem out of his mane.

He sat down crossed-legged on his comforter, after he made sure the coast was clear, and looked down at Jasper's gem. "Sorry… I guess I wasn't brave enough to tell Pearl. And she's not even as scary as Garnet can get." Steven put the gem down on his pillow, placing both hands on his knees and focusing his attention on it, as if he could will his words to get through. "I don't want anyone to get hurt. It was bad enough seeing Garnet- what you did to Garnet. But you didn't do anything else to her. Or Ruby and Sapphire. Or even Pearl or Amethyst. You just put them in space jail. Lapis too." He moved, hugging his knees close to his chest. "That really wasn't that bad. I guess. It didn't seem as bad as being bubbled." At least that's what he thought.

"I just wish I could talk to you. Without you trying to headbutt me." The only response he got was a yawn from Lion, curled up next to the bed. Steven sighed and carefully picked up her Gem again, crawling off of his bed to stand next to the big cat. "I think I've got to leave you in here for now. Otherwise the Gems would probably find you, and I have to make sure that doesn't happen until I'm sure they're okay with not bubbling you or something." He stuck his head into Lion's mane, looking for the cooler again. He found it, and this time he dumped out all the extra cans before putting the orange gem inside of it.

Lion just looked at him when he extracted himself from the fur, eyes narrowed again in a 'I don't approve of what you're doing but I'm not going to make any noise about it' look. Steven frowned back. "Don't you go anywhere, alright? You need to stay here." He accentuated the remark with a pat on Lion's nose. "I don't know what will happen if Jasper ends up regenerating in there. She might get stuck and that could be weird." Lion snorted and put his head down on his paws in response.

"Alright. Time for Steven to get some sleep." He turned towards the bed, arms out, and let himself fall on the comforter with a 'wooph'. Before Steven knew it, he was asleep, and the Temple was quiet once more.

* * *

**AN:** Another whopper! This chapter was originally meant to go on a little differently, but this part got so long that I decided it would be best to split it into two. As a note, **This is a Jasper!Redemption fic. If you don't like Jasper, then you probably shouldn't be reading this. **Again, thanks to Fabulfuz for being my partner in crime on this, and LastOneOut for her words of encouragement!

PS- Alxkendblader, your comment made my day when I first read it! I haven't thought of Quickdraw in years!


	3. Miles to Go

_The woods are lovely, dark and deep._

_But I have promises to keep,_

_And miles to go before I sleep,_

_And miles to go before I sleep._

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, R. Frost

* * *

That night, Steven dreamed of Jasper.

She was screaming at him, demanding to be released from wherever he'd confined her from across a hazy plain, a spectre of wild hair and orange skin. The roars in his head were actually loud enough to wake him up and send him off the bed with a wild flail, where he ended up on the floor tangled in blankets.

He didn't quite remember being tucked in, and the thought that it was probably Pearl after she came out to check on him slipped through his mind as he frantically dove for a sleeping Lion.

After a moment of pushing and shoving he was inside the big cat's mane. Jasper's gem was where he had left it inside the little cooler, and it took all of Steven's effort to summon the bubble around the sliver of orange with shaking hands. He hated to do it, still thinking of Centipeedle, but with no idea of how much time it would take for either Jasper to reform or for the Gems to find out…

Thinking about the rest of the Crystal Gems caused even more panic than the nightmare, and with a few kicks he was back in his bedroom, on the floor again with Lion looking at him with something like amused disinterest.

"Hey, don't give me that."

Steven used the bed to pull himself up to his feet, where he finally looked around the rest of the house. It was still dark, inside and out, and even Amethyst wasn't out to raid the fridge like she usually did late at night. The only other person around was Lion, and he had settled back down where had been sleeping earlier, no longer interested in Steven's actions. He let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, falling forwards onto the comforter and landing on his stomach.

"I wish Lapis was the one who showed up instead."

This would all be so much easier if it was Lapis, instead of Jasper. He wouldn't have to hide her from the Gems like this. With a look over to Lion, who was now side-eyeing him through one lazy eye, Steven could only groan again.

"Unless you have an idea of what to do you can't look at me like that."

The responding huff from the big cat was swallowed up by the emptiness of the darkened house. With another groan Steven pulled himself back to his pillow, but couldn't find a comfortable position, rolling over once, staring at the ceiling, then rolling again to stare at the wall. It took a couple more rolls and long hours before Steven had finally managed to fall back to sleep. Even then it wasn't a good sleep, and more than once he found himself waking with a start, until finally he dragged himself down the stairs to dig something out for breakfast.

* * *

It wasn't until two 'Bandito Breakfast Burritos' later, when he had eaten and was staring at his plate in a sort of exhausted, contemplative silence that the door to the Temple opened. It was Amethyst's door, the squat purple Gem all but rolling out of her room with a yawn and a stretch. She made a bee-line towards the counter where he was sitting, flicking her long pale hair out behind her before planting both hands on the counter next to him.

"Hey Ste-maaaaan!" When her wide smile and cheerful greeting were only received by a grumble and a deflated sort of slump by Steven, she made a face and reached over to ruffle his hair. "P told me you got into a fight with a crab monster! One for Tiger Millionaire, right?" Again, her question only received a half-hearted response from the boy slouched over the counter.

Amethyst's reaction was to blow a raspberry and grab the empty box that Steven's breakfast had come in, taking a bite as she turned back to the Temple door. "Fine, whatever man. Don't want to crash the pity party you're throwing."

It wasn't until her door was open that Steven finally piped up. "Uh, wait! Where are Garnet and Pearl?"

The small Gem turned back towards the kitchen, taking another chunk out of the box and speaking un-enthusiastically through the mouthful. "Eh, P's doin' somethin' with that space junk we cleaned up and I think Garnet's out lookin' for mean green." Her shrug punctuated the words, obviously not caring about her comrade's activities.

Steven had finally climbed down off of the stool, empty plate in hand. "Hey, Amethyst… What did you think about Jasper? When you first saw her?"

His question was enough to put a pause in Amethyst's retreat to her room, she leaned against the open door frame, shrugging her shoulders again. "I dunno, man. She was big. And loud. And a jerk. Oh man, me and Pearl were ready to kick her big butt after she knocked Garnet out!" She jumped into a fighting stance, her 'snack' still in one hand as she shadow boxed. "And we would have too. 'Cept she got her hands on you and did that thing with her forehead…" Amethyst slowly came to a stop, sheepishly rubbing one arm with her free hand. "And then we had to stop fightin' or she said she was gonna try and poof you." She fell into a quiet, just for a moment, before striking a pose. "She lost in the end though! Doesn't matter, right? Who cares!"

"Yeah. I guess you're right." Steven did an awkward shuffle with his feet.

"Don't worry about her. She's stuck for now, and when Garnet finds her, WHAM!" Amethyst demonstrated by crushing what was left of the box between her hands and tossing it her mouth. "Or somethin' like that." With her hands up in a 'who knows' motion, Amethyst turned back to her room. "Anyways, I got junk to sort. All that new trash from Peridot's ship is really crampin' my system. Later Steeeeven." The door to her room closed with a 'shunk', leaving Steven alone in the house again, sweating a little from the demonstration.

After depositing the plate in the kitchen sink (for Pearl later) and sweeping up the rest of the wrappers from his food into a pile (for Amethyst later) Steven was changed and out the door with Lion in tow. He actually wished it was that simple, not wanting to leave Lion alone to disappear again like he did from time to time, especially with Jasper's Gem in his mane. He had to alternately push the massive feline down from his bedside and steer him outside until he got an idea.

"C'mon, we're gonna go see Dad. If you behave we'll get you some Lion Lickers or something, please?" To his dismay the mention of the awful treats were enough to get the cat moving. "I still can't believe you like those things."

Lion's only response was a yawn as they both started the trek down the beach and towards Beach City. The morning was quiet, and it was still early, so their only company was the noise of the ocean and some seagulls out early to find their own breakfasts, but they kept their distance from the pair as they trekked across the sand. Steven had found that bringing Lion out on walks with him was a great way to deter some of the more opportunistic wildlife, and so they reached the Car Wash without incident.

* * *

The early hour meant that there were no customers yet, but Greg Universe was out in a lawn chair, enjoying the morning and playing on acoustic guitar. When Steven and Lion came into view, he smiled broadly and put the guitar down, waving at the pair. "Hey Schtu-ball! Good morning!" He was up on his feet to give Steven a hug, one hand out to pat Lion's head. "And Lion too, huh? That's a surprise. You here to hang with your old man?" He was smiling down at Steven until he noticed his son's haggard look and the way he clung into the hug.

"Woah, hey buddy. You have a rough night?" At the affirmative mumbled against his shirt, Greg gently picked Steven up and placed him in his vacated chair. "Just hang out here, let me go get another chair and you can tell me about it, all right?"

"Alright. Thanks Dad." Steven mumbled quietly waiting, kicking his feet in the air while Greg brought out another chair. He even managed to get his father's larger guitar into his lap to play a few notes. It's large size made it unwieldy, and for a bitter moment he missed his ukelele. Nearby Lion had found a comfortable spot to lay out for a nap, but was still watching through slitted eyes.

There was only a moment before Greg pulled another chair out next to the first, sitting heavily. "Still a little big for you, huh? Pearl told me you got into a kabong fight with a crab. Sounds wild."

"Uh. Maybe? Is that a reference to something?"

"It's this.. Old cartoon. Don't worry about it." Greg waved off the thought before offering to take the unwieldy guitar from Steven. "So you wanna tell me what you've got on your mind?" He set the guitar down again before resting his hands on his knees, leaning forwards to listen.

"Not, not really." Without the guitar to occupy his hands, Steven was left with only the bottom of his shirt to fidget with. "Just. Remember that story you told me about you and Mom?" At his father's nod, he continued, still handling the bottom of his shirt. "If Marty ever came back, what would you do?"

"Marty? That guy?" Greg leaned back in his chair, which squeaked in protest. "You're asking some hard-ball questions today, Steven. I guess it'd depend on how he acted." He crossed his arms, one elbow in hand, his other hand tapping his chin. "If he was still a jerk we'd have a problem. He was a pretty big jerk so I don't know if that would change." He tried to play it off as a joke, but the look Steven game him made him rethink his words.

"If Marty came back to Beach City and wanted to apologize, then I guess I could maybe forgive him. People can change." He held his hands up and shrugged. "But it's up to you to decide if you want to give them the benefit of the doubt or not."

"Benefit of the wha?" Steven was giving him another look, but this time instead of just confusion, it was something like a determination to understand.

"Oh, it means you gotta decide if you want to trust them. Like, you've got to say to yourself, 'I know they were a jerk to me before, but if I give them a chance, and they prove they're not going to treat me like they did, then we're okay!'."

"So if he was nice when he came back, you'd forgive him?"

The question was innocent enough, but Greg couldn't help but wince, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "Honestly I don't know if I could, kiddo. Marty was a real piece of work. It's complicated." He tried to grin it off, but Steven was still staring at him intently. "Hey, let's not worry about that now. It's still way too early to be thinking so hard." He reached over to ruffle Steven's hair. "How about you and I jam out instead?"

Steven's response was a wide smile, even if he was still unsettled by his own question and the lurking thought of Jasper, still bubbled nearby in Lion's mane. The thought of her was pushed from his mind, in favor of the chance to spend more time with his Dad. "Oh! Does that mean I can play the electric?" He was out of the chair and off towards the van in the same breath, leaving Greg to scramble to catch up.

* * *

AN: Wooooow finally. I want to apologize to every one who's been waiting for an update on this. Honestly this one was hard to bang out because it required a little more thought then the first two chapters. I still want to be able to work on this in but still want to keep it believable. I honestly was hoping to catch up before the Steven-Bombs, but I wasn't able to, even though I'll keep trying to work in what we learn as the show goes on. This Chapter is dedicated to my friends Naovax, Pan, and Termie (who all helped with the writing), and to all the Jasper fans dealing with crap who just want to the Big Buff Cheeto Puff to be happy and healthy. Peace y'all! -Blue

(PS I'm still looking for a sort of beta reader! Feel free to contact me if you're interested!)

(PPS- Sorry if the formatting is wonky I am never gonna get used to it ffff )


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